Elizabeth Vargas Writes Memoir Disclosing Details From Her Alcohol Addiction

Alcoholism in the Latino community is a serious problem, it’s something we don’t like to talk about, but it has serious consequences. In 2015 Elizabeth Peña died from cirrhosis of the liver due to alcohol abuse. Former Chicago news anchor, Edna Schmidt got fired from Telemundo for showing up at work drunk and even long time talk show host, Christina Saralegui also came forward saying that she had an alcohol abuse problem. Elizabeth Vargas, 20/20 anchor has struggled with alcoholism for several years and most recently wrote a book about her struggles with alcoholism.

Alcoholism affects Latina women at a greater rate than men and it’s about time we start talking about this. One of the things that all of these women have in common, except for Elizabeth Peña, is that they realized they had a problem with alcohol and got the help they need. Plus, they felt the need to use their place of power and popularity to tell their story in order to help others. Elizabeth Peña, on the other hand struggled with alcoholism silently and never got the help she needed, which is very common among Latinos.

According to the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the rate of death of women alcoholics is twice as high as men. Plus educated women are more prone to become alcoholics, especially those that are in high-level jobs, where they secretly suffer from anxiety and the pressure of being the best, which is why they find comfort in alcohol.

“I first started to wonder if I had an issue, so I read other people’s books, and they helped me enormously. It’s very scary to put it out there, but if I can help one person feel less alone, then I’m really happy about that,” explains Vargas.

She wrote her first book, Between Breaths A Memoir of Anxiety and Addiction, which will be available in September. Writing this memoir was no easy task, but it is something that really helped her through the process. “Partially therapeutic, at times painful, and yet also, at times, very liberating,” she says. “This was about admitting what I did, what I suffered with, and how I overcame it,” she says.

Vargas feels lucky and grateful that she had a network of family and friends that stood by her when she was going through this difficult time because many times people don’t have that support system. She checked into rehab for alcohol abuse in November 2013 and then went back less than a year later to be treated for alcohol dependency. She’s been through a lot during these last couple of years and we’re glad to hear she’s doing so much better and back at her job at 20/20.

There are many resources for alcohol abuse and anxiety, and a good place to find the help you need is at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). They have a variety of treatments and services that are effective in helping people with counseling, care management, medication, recovery support systems, and much more.

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